Big pimpin' in the neutronium mantle

Alien species first discovered in the neutron star KJEI-54-458945
in the Einstein's Revenge Cluster. They consist of knots of the vortex
and charge tubes in the neutronium mantle of the neutron star; each
individual is a few centimetres across and lives on soliton waves and
neutrino flows. They are based on nuclear matter processes, acting
naturally on the femtosecond timescale and have picotech manipulation
abilities. The Einstein's Revenge Cluster consists of 34 neutron
stars, apparently the result of timed supernovas several hundred
million years ago. It is unknown if they were caused by the Knots or
some species which created the Knots, but all neutron stars are
inhabited by different versions of the Knots.

The Knots appear to have a largely non-material culture where the
basis of interaction is trade in self, orthodoxy and authentic noise
(?) according to the communication attempts that have been undertaken
by various interstellar institutes. Knots appear to view the world as
an eternal unchanging structure, where they just play out its logical
unfolding in order to cause their existence (?). Most contact attempts
have failed, as the Knots consider the world outside the neutronium a
highly abstract mathematical problem rather than something to interact
with.»